Seated Liberty Dime

Search Values

Seated Liberty Dime

Seated Liberty Dime

Seated Liberty dimes attract strong collector interest By Michele Orzano COIN WORLD Staff It was the longest running design for any U.S. silver coin – the Seated Liberty obverse. It was used on the half dime, dime, 20-cent coin, quarter dollar, half dolla...READ MORE

Seated Liberty Dime

Seated Liberty Dime

Seated Liberty dimes attract strong collector interest
By Michele Orzano
COIN WORLD Staff It was the longest running design for any U.S. silver
coin – the Seated Liberty obverse. It was used on the half dime, dime,
20-cent coin, quarter dollar, half dollar and dollar as well as some
dollar patterns. When it was used for the dime denomination, the design
was tinkered with several times during its 55-year run. At any given
time, the obverse design has featured stars and no stars; with drapery
at the elbow and without drapery; with arrows at the date and without
arrows; with legend, without legend. Even the reverse wasn't exempt
from change. From 1837 to 1860 it featured a berry-bedecked wreath. Then
it was changed to display a "cereal" wreath made up of corn,
wheat, maple and oak leaves. Many designers participated in the series.
The design used on the obverse from 1837 to 1840 was the work of Thomas
Sully and Christian Gobrecht (Gobrecht also designed the berry-wreath
reverse with legend). The concept for the design began when U.S. Mint
Director Robert Maskell Patterson decided it was time to move away from
John Reich's Capped Bust designs. Patterson liked the strength conveyed
in the seated Britannia that was used on British coinage. He
commissioned noted painters Sully and Titian Peale to submit designs
favoring a Seated Liberty concept. The new design apparently pleased
Patterson and he assigned Gobrecht the task of engraving it. Gobrecht
had been serving as a draughtsman and diesinker at the Mint, and
assistant to then Engraver William Kneass since 1836. When Kneass died
in 1840, Gobrecht succeeded him. The obverse design depicts an
allegorical figure of Liberty seated on a rock with her head looking
back over her right shoulder. Her left hand holds a pole with Liberty
cap on the upper end, while her right hand supports a shield resting
against the rock. The word LIBERTY appears on a ribbon held in place
across the shield by Liberty's right hand. The date appears below the
figure. The first reverse design shows an open-ended wreath of two
branches connected at the bottom with a ribbon tied into a bow, with the
denomination ONE DIME, rather than a numerical designation, within in
the wreath. Changes to the Gobrecht-Sully obverse were instituted by
John Hughes in 1840. Hughes added drapery between Liberty's left arm and
left thigh as well as more cloth over her bustline. He also fattened her
arms, reduced her bust and the size of the rock she sits on, and
straightened the shield to its full and upright position. In addition,
arrows were added on either side of the date on coins dated 1853 through
1855. In 1860, James B. Longacre removed the stars from the
Hughes-Gobrecht-Sully design and moved the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
legend from the reverse to the obverse. He reintroduced arrows at the
date from 1873 through 1875. Longacre is also credited with designing
the cereal wreath used on the reverse. Longacre's reverse design
remained in use until 1916 – even though the Barber dime obverse was
introduced in 1892. Despite the changes to design and even to fineness,
the Seated Liberty dime remains popular with collectors.

Coin values search results

LIBERTY CAP RIGHT HALF CENT

THE SMALLEST DENOMINATION

Although it may seem unusual today, the United States government once issued a coin worth less than one cent: the half cent. The copper U.S. half cent was authorized for production on April 2, 1792. During its 64-year lifespan as a circulating denomination, five different basic design types of the tiny (0.93-inch) coin were struck. The coins were struck at the Philadelphia Mint and do not have a Mint mark. The half cent's designers and engravers are among the best known names in U.S. Mint design/engraving history: Adam Eckfeldt, Robert Scot, John Gardner, Gilbert Stuart, John Reich and Christian Gobrecht. Designs for the half cent were also used on other denominations through the years. The 1793 Liberty Cap half cent features a lettered edge stating TWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR. The obverse depicts a bust of Liberty with flowing hair, facing left. A Liberty Cap on a pole rests on her right shoulder giving the design its name, the Liberty Cap. The design for the Liberty Cap half cent was based on Agustin Dupre's Libertas Americana medal. Half cents struck between 1794 and 1797 bear another Liberty Cap design, this one facing right, and issued in Plain Edge, Lettered Edge and Gripped Edge varieties. From 1800 to 1808 the Draped Bust design was used on half cents. All half cents bearing those dates are Plain Edge varieties. The Classic Head design was used on half cents struck between 1809-1836. From 1849 to 1857, a Coronet design with Plain Edge was used. All half cents have a wreath on the reverse. The key dates in the series are 1793; 1796, No Pole; 1802/0, Reverse of 1800; and 1831.